The Ultimate Guide to Shared Spatial Anchoring in VR: Setup and Must-Play Games

by Atom Bomb Body April 27, 2024

Shared spatial anchoring is a unique feature exclusive to Meta Quest headsets that allows multiple VR users to interact with the same virtual objects in a shared physical space for a unique multiplayer experience. While not many games currently support this feature due to the requirement of having multiple Quest headsets in the same space (which is uncommon), it's still definitely worth exploring for those who have access to multiple devices.

In this post, we'll guide you through the setup process and highlight some games that support shared spatial anchoring.

Setting Up Shared Spatial Anchoring

Make sure that you complete these steps on all the headsets that will be playing together.

1. Enable Passthrough: Go to your Quest menu bar, click on the time, click on Settings > Physical Space > Passthrough, and turn it on.

2. Outline Your Playspace: Under physical space settings, click on Boundary > Create New Boundary. Choose Roomscale Guardian (Quest 2) or Custom Guardian > Roomscale (Quest 3). Trace a guardian slightly larger than your play area, including slightly outside nearby walls.

3. Align Virtual and Real Walls: Use Space Setup in the physical space settings to align virtual walls with your real ones. On Quest 3, look around to map your room automatically. On Quest 2, manually outline walls by clicking from one corner of your room to another.

Quest 3

Quest 2

4. Label Tables and Surfaces: After completing your room setup, you will be asked if you would like to add any furniture. Outline at least one table or surface for anchoring game objects. Label other furniture for added immersion in certain games.

5. Enable Point Cloud Data Sharing: Go to Privacy Settings > Device Permissions and enable point cloud data sharing for boundary communication between headsets.

Games That Support Shared Spatial Anchoring

While the list of games that support shared spatial anchoring is currently limited, there are still some exciting options available. Let's take a closer look at some of the most notable games that have embraced shared spatial anchoring:

Demeo

A cross-platform cooperative adventure game that recreates the magic of tabletop gaming. With shared spatial anchoring, the game board and pieces appear in the same location for all players. Make sure to enable augmented reality in the game's settings to enable the passthrough mode. If you notice that the gloves of the person(s) playing with you don't align with their actual, physical hands, navigate to the game's AR settings, click on the "Sync" button next to "Colocation," and give the game a few seconds to re-align all players.

Grokit

A collection of mini-games that utilize hand tracking technology, inspired by classic party games. Shared spatial anchoring allows players to interact with virtual objects together while in the same space, leveraging scene understanding to create unique interactions with your room and furniture. Once the other player(s) have joined your session, you can go to the settings to re-sync the space or view/hide their and your wall outlines.

Puzzling Places

A solo or cooperative game where players assemble hyper-realistic 3D jigsaw puzzles of beautiful places from around the globe. Shared anchoring ensures that puzzle pieces are correctly aligned for all players, allowing for a seamless multiplayer experience. With its simple gameplay, easy controls, and meditative soundscapes, Puzzling Places offers a relaxing and wholesome VR puzzling experience suitable for the whole family. In the settings, make sure to scroll down to "Experimental" to enable passthrough and local mixed reality.

Figmin XR

A social art application that enables users to create, share, and collaborate on virtual artwork in a shared space using shared anchoring technology. By clicking the "Multiplayer" button on the UI, artists can create a room and choose between in-person or remote collaboration. To help users align their scenes with other participants in real life, Figmin XR offers a helpful multiplayer tutorial, which can be found here.

ShapesXR

A VR design app where users can manipulate and combine shapes to create unique structures. Shared anchoring enables players to build together in a synchronized environment. To start a room-scale collaboration you need to go to the Passthrough & Mixed Reality menu, activate and setup Room-scale mode (you can read about it here) and finally, press the "Share" button and wait for the room to be uploaded. From here anyone in the same physical location and space can download your room anchor and join you in Mixed Reality.

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Shared spatial anchoring pushes the boundaries of what's possible in VR multiplayer experiences. As VR becomes more accessible and widespread, we can expect to see a growing number of games and applications embracing shared spatial anchoring, opening up new avenues for collaboration, creativity, and entertainment.

Whether you're teaming up with friends to save the realm in Demeo, engaging in friendly competition with Grokit, putting puzzles together in Puzzling Pieces, creating art in Figmin XR, or building virtual structures in ShapesXR, shared spatial anchoring adds an extra layer of immersion and connectivity to your VR experience.

So, if you're lucky enough to have access to multiple Meta Quest headsets, dive in and explore the world of shared spatial anchoring – you might just discover a whole new way to play, create, and connect in VR.